The Wonder Weeks and Sleep

The Wonder Weeks and Sleep. The impact the wonder weeks have on baby’s sleep. Sleep regressions to expect and how to quickly get baby sleeping well after a mental leap.

Babies need sleep. Sleep helps baby develop physically, mentally, and emotionally. Despite the need for sleep, there are many times babies have sleep regressions. These are often tied to The Wonder Weeks, including leap 4, perhaps the most infamous of all the wonder weeks.

Ages to Expect The Wonder Weeks

When your baby goes through a wonder week mental leap, there is an excellent change there will be some disrupted sleep in conjunction with the leap. Here are leaps to expect for a baby:

Leap 1 Wonder Week 5: 5 weeks old

Leap 2 Wonder Week 8: 8-9 weeks old

Leap 3 Wonder Week 12: 12 weeks old

Leap 4 Wonder Week 19: 15-20 weeks old (see why this one is so rough?)

Leap 5 Wonder Week 26: 23-26 weeks old

Leap 6 Wonder Week 37: 36-37 weeks old (this can go as long as 40 weeks)

Leap 7 Wonder Week 46: 44-46 weeks old

Once baby leaves babyhood and enters toddlerhood, you will see more leaps at these ages

Leap 8 Wonder Week 55: 53-55 weeks old

Leap 9 Wonder Week 64: 59-34 weeks old

Leap 10 Wonder Week 75: 71-75 weeks old

That is a lot of potential sleep regressions during the course of baby’s first year and a half of life. Not every leap will have sleep issues in association with the leap. The impact of each leap on sleep can also vary from baby to baby. Do not look at this list and despair.

How Baby’s Sleep is Impacted by The Wonder Weeks

During a wonder week, your baby’s brain is developing at a rapid pace. There is always some new skill a baby is mastering during a wonder week. Because of this, REM sleep is longer during a wonder week. During REM sleep, new brain connections are formed (The Wonder Weeks, page 454). During REM sleep, babies (and any aged human) wake up easier.

During Leap 1 and perhaps Leap 2, you might not notice much of a sleep disturbance. This is because babies that young usually wake up so often that you can’t tell if there is a sleep “disturbance.”

Use some sleep props during leaps. This is contradictory to my previous point. Avoid the sleep props before the leap, but during a leap, if you need a prop to help baby get better sleep, do it! A swing, rocking baby back to sleep, a pacifier…baby’s brain needs sleep to develop through the leap. Short naps do not help that process.

Also, do not try to change up baby’s schedule during a wonder week. You may change things to the point that baby can’t sleep well when the leap is over. You can read more for help handling these wonder weeks as a Babywise mom.

The Stress of Wonder Weeks

The Wonder Weeks can be quite stressful. It can feel doom and gloom, especially when it looks like baby will always have disrupted sleep. Why bother? Remember that not every mental leap will have horrid naps. There are things you can do to help with the sleep if baby’s naps are bad. Sometimes a wonder week is simply just a grey period. You can follow the Wonder Weeks without completely stressing out about them. Ignorance can be bliss. I didn’t know about The Wonder Weeks book with my first two babies, so I just had times my baby was fussy and worked through it. It can be nice to know the reason, but it can also cast a shadow over your days as you look forward and realize things will get rough. So pay as much attention as you can without making yourself miserable.

I find it can be helpful to know there is a reason for the poor sleep, so overall, I like knowing when the Wonder Weeks are. If poor sleep is caused by a Wonder Week mental leap, it does not help anything to try to change up the schedule. Learn more at The Wonder Weeks: What You Need to Know About Them

Related Posts on The Wonder Weeks:

Valerie, also known as The Babywise Mom, is the mother to four children. She has been blogging on Babywise and general parenting since 2007. She has a degree in technical writing and loves using those skills to help parents be the best parents they can be! Read her book, The Babywise Mom Nap Guide, to get help on sleep from birth through the preschool years. You can also find her writing at Babywise.life, Today Parenting, and Her View From Home. Read more about Valerie and her family on the About page. Follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for more tips and helps.